


Saving the Phoenix

by Talliya



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-01-15 19:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1316281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talliya/pseuds/Talliya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rogue is possessed by Emily Gray it lets Rogue in on a little secret; possession counts as touching. And gaining the memories of this particular mutant sends Rogue and Wolverine on a mission across the world to save the Phoenix and Jean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any rights to X-Men or its characters. This work is not for profit.

Rogue walked up to where Wolverine was parked on the long forested road to Xavier’s School for the Gifted, readjusting his gear. She was determined to at least make him hear her out this time, no evading or dodging the subject, she wanted him to know how she truly felt. Wolverine turned from his old motorcycle and faced her having heard her footfalls crunching on random fallen leaves, so long from the tree that they were curled and dry. 

“Rogue? What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be in class?”

Rogue looked up at him and shook her head, “No, I graduated remember?”

Wolverine gave her a blank look.

Rogue shook her head again, of course he wouldn’t remember that she’d graduated shortly after he’d left six years ago. He hadn’t been there after all. “I graduated six years ago. And since my ability came back Storm has had me trying to find a way to control my power so that the only time I take another’s energy is when I try to. Nothing to that degree so far, but Storm is hopeful. So are Bobby, Kitty, Kurt and Piotr; they’ve been really supportive. I’m a bit skeptical myself. Though I have been able to control the amount of energy I take, Bobby and Kurt have been helping me with that by letting me hold onto their hands for long periods of time. I can manage the intake well enough that it takes about two hours for them to start feeling it. I don’t know, maybe Storm’s onto something? But I have to focus on that single thing in order for it to work; I can’t try to do anything else at all, not even conversation. It kinda sucks.” Rouge screwed up her face at this.

Wolverine laughed and pulled her into a bear hug, “Well that’s something, right kid?”

Rogue smiled softly, “I missed you Logan.”

Wolverine grinned, “I missed you too Marie.”

“You were gone so long this time. When Aura picked your signature up on the road here I almost didn’t believe him.” Rogue pulled back to look him in the face; Wolverine looked down at her with a crooked grin on his face, his eyes however were a bit sad and far-away looking. Rogue sighed in defeat and she pulled out of the hug.

“Well I ended up going back to the Rockies in Canada and found my old house, still sittin’ there in the middle of nowhere undisturbed; it brought back a lot of memories. I decided that it’d probably be better if I had someone out there with me, so I came back to see if you’d be up for it.” Wolverine smirked, “If Iceman will let you go long enough. On the drive back a lot of things started to click into place. If you’d like to hear about it I could probably talk your ears off.” Wolverine’s eyes were smiling down at her now, no distance at all.

“Really?” Rogue looked up at him pleased to be thought of. “The loner actually wants company?”

“Yeah really. But I get the sense you met me out here for a reason.” He inclined his head at her.

Rogue turned and strode a few paces away hesitating. “Well, I.” Rogue whipped around, “I wanted you to know that...I realize you’ve had people you loved very deeply and that you can’t forget them, Jean being one of them.” An uncommon wind swept through the pause and made them both shiver uneasily. “But I wanted you to know that I love you Logan.”

“So...wait what? What, why do...?” Wolverine didn’t know what he was expected to do or say to that.

“I just wanted you to know that I love you. You don’t have to return the feeling or anything.” /But it’d be nice./ Rogue thought to herself, “You tend to avoid me when I start talking about feelings and stuff. So I decided that I’d make you hear me out this time.”

Wolverine smiled softly at her, “What about Iceman?”

Rogue looked up from her perusal of her shoes, “He’s dating Shadow Cat now. After I decided to take the ‘cure’ our relationship kind of went downhill. Not because he was mad at me or anything, though he hadn’t wanted me to do it. He was alright with it because it was my decision, something I truly wanted to do for myself.” Rogue hastened to say, “But more because of me. I realized that I really didn’t like him that much. And before you ask, no we didn’t.” Rogue said after seeing the look on Wolverine’s face. “I used to spend a lot of time with Jimmy,” Rogue grinned sheepishly. “Guess I was hoping that being around him might make the ‘cure’ kick back in. Jimmy seemed to think it was funny that his ability is the only one I can’t absorb. Which is ironic I guess. Anyway, I broke it off with Bobby because I kept calling for you in my sleep and I could tell how Kitty felt about him.”

“So you’re free then?” Rogue looked at him askance. “I was coming back to talk to you remember?” She nodded slowly. “I was gonna ask you if you would like to come with me. I got the urge to show you my home in Canada and maybe we could go check out the place I was born.” Wolverine paused looking at her with a child-like hope in his expression. “Would you like to come with me?”

“I, I’d love too!” Rogue’s eyes were bright with excitement. “But I’d have to go back and let Storm know I’m leaving. We could just leave and let the psychics tell her, but that’s rude.” Rogue smiled and turned to walk back up the road to the school. The eerie wind came back and swirled around them like a tornado on low rev.

“Rogue!” Wolverine cried out in alarm, the familiar fingers across his mind giving him warning. Rogue fell to her knees as another mind shoved into her own.

‘You think you can make him forget me?!’

“No! Jean, that’s not wha-!”

There was a gleeful laugh, ‘I am not Jean Grey. I am the Phoenix! And now, thanks to you Rogue, I can be free of Jean! You can be my new puppet!’

Wolverine rushed toward Rogue, ‘No! Logan don’t!’ But Jean’s warning came too late and the Wolverine was thrown backward away from Rogue. “What?” Wolverine coughed out in confusion.

‘Sorry.’

“Jean?”

‘Yes, the Phoenix has hold of Rogue, she won’t listen to me anymore, just pushes me aside. She wants to come back to life again, but she’d have to use MY body and she doesn’t want that.’

“Wait. How does that work? Isn’t she just another facet of yourself?”

“’No.’” Rogue stood and faced Wolverine jerkily, as if she were resisting an outside force. “’We are not the same person. We were twins but my body died and Jean didn’t want to lose me, so she allowed me to reside within hers. I love my sister very much, I hadn’t wanted to die and I’m grateful. But I’ve had enough!’” Rogue’s voice sounded hollow and scratchy, like she wasn’t used to using it.

Wolverine realized that the Phoenix probably wasn’t, even when she was merged with Jean the voice was different between the two. “Let Rogue go, you shouldn’t force yourself on people like that. I would have thought the Grey’s had more manners than that.” Wolverine was flippant.

‘No.’ Jean whispered through all of their minds, they could all imagine her closing her eyes as if to shut out something painful.

“’WHAT? You would compare me to people who barely cried over the still form of their already named daughter?! You think I want to be associated with my last name!?’” Rogue’s body lifted into the air, her skin turned ashen and her eyes glowed red - the wind picked up and lashed out at Wolverine.

‘Stop! Please. Let Rogue go, she’s been used and manipulated by other mutants enough. Please, Emily don’t do this.’ Jean’s mind was like cool water through Rogue’s mind as she tried to calm the Phoenix.

Suddenly fire bloomed in Rogue’s brain as Phoenix found the memories of her abuse by others. ‘Fine, I’ll let her go.’ Phoenix sighed and Rogue fell to the ground in an unconscious heap. ‘But I won’t allow Wolverine to forget me. “I” want him, it was never you Jean, you had Cyclopes. But me?’ Phoenix mentally shook her head.

“Rogue? Kid, you alright?” Wolverine was edging closer to the prone woman now lying in the middle of the street.

‘She’ll be alright Logan. She-.” Jean’s mental assurance was cut off as Phoenix slammed into Wolverine’s mind.

‘You are mine!’

“No, I’m not. You can look if you want Phoenix, but it was Jean that I was in love with.”

‘And now you love Rogue, who’s attitude reminds you so much of Kayla? Pitiful.’

“Maybe, but I cared for her before I ever remembered any of that.”

The Phoenix let out a frustrated scream, ‘NO’ Phoenix rushed toward Rogue again but crashed into Jean instead.

‘No!’

There was a blast of wind that woke Rogue with its force and as she sat up unsteadily they were both transfixed by Jean suddenly standing alive before them, “I’m sorry you guys.”

“Jean?”

“Yeah Logan it’s me. But I’m not very stable; Emily is a lot stronger than I am.” Her hair seemed to catch or become fire. “Please, I realize,” she hesitated, “I and the Phoenix, Emily, destroyed perhaps the one person that could help us. But could you try to find-.” Jean disappeared in a gust of wind just as quickly as she’d come.


	2. Resting

Rogue’s head jerked up and she glanced down the road away from the school, “We need to get back to the school, there are people coming up the drive.” Rogue’s voice was abused, but her own.

“How can you tell?”

“I was just taken control of by the Phoenix. That counts as touching.” Rogue stood drunkenly, “I am a bit woozy though.”

Wolverine went over and swung her up into his arms, “Well, can you hold onto me for the ride back?” Rogue nodded and he noted that she was crying. They settled themselves on the bike and were off.  
When they arrived at the school Storm and several others were waiting for them, Aura who had sensed Wolverine coming was shaking and crying from fear.

Storm looked up from comforting him and rested worried eyes on Rogue and Wolverine, “What just happened?”

“Jean, the Phoenix. There’s, so much here... my head.” Rogue held a hand to her forehead. “It’s too much to process, but they need help. We have to find a way to help them! Jean is scared and I think Phoenix tried to kill me. I ~ really need to lie down.” Wolverine scooped Rogue up off the bike as she fainted away.

“She still have the same room as before?”

“Ah? No, she has Jean and Scotts’ old room.” Storm answered him.

“Great, she’s just down the hall then.”

“Should I go and unlock your doors?” Colossus asked. Wolverine nodded and Pete jogged off as Wolverine and Storm followed at a walk, “So, what’s new here?”

Storm smiled, “Well, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Shadow Cat, Iceman, Havok and Angel have been teaching classes here. Rogue helps with those in combat training on occasion. I’ve been doing my best to keep the press out of the school, along with Beast’s help.” Wolverine quirked a brow, “Well most people realize now that this is a school for mutants, that’s why we have someone with psychic abilities watching the road in at all times. Luckily for us we have several. But it’s tiring for them and most are very young. Our most powerful is only six years old; she’s gotten so bored with being here that she’s started watching the road in her sleep. She saved us from a rude paparazzi awakening the other day.”

“I guess Rogue’s comment that we could just take off and have the psychic’s tell you makes sense now.” Wolverine chuckled.

Storm rolled her eyes, “Yes, but she likes being responsible for herself, I think it makes her angry when they tell us what she’s doing before she’s decided to let us know herself.”

“Yeah, well that one time it could have been really dangerous! I just didn’t realize soon enough that she wasn’t actually planning on doing it, she was just thinking about it.” The boy frowned.

Storm put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “It’s alright.” Storm smiled softly, “Rogue has been trying to control her power, it’s not what I’d had in mind originally, but it’s progress of a sense.” Storm smiled fondly down at Rogue, cradled peacefully in Wolverine’s arms.

“Yeah, she was telling me about that.”

They’d made it to Rogue’s room and Nightcrawler was there with a worried expression, “Is she alright?”

Wolverine nodded his head, “I think she’ll be just fine. Having Phoenix in your mind is taxing, I’m pretty tired myself.”

Nightcrawler looked relieved and disappeared in a puff of smoke, “He’s gone to tell Kitty and Bobby. They’re out picking up newbies in Texas.” Aura’s soft voice filled in the answer for Storm’s unasked question.

“He can jump that far?” Wolverine was surprised, leaning down he placed Rogue on her bed and Colossus covered her with a quilt from a nearby chair.

“Here.” He tossed Wolverine the key to his room and walked out.

“Rogue’s not the only one who’s been working on controlling their abilities. Nightcrawler and Shadow Cat have progressed the most, but everyone is improving.” Storm sighed in preparation of starting in on her long-winded version of Twenty Questions.

“Storm, the delegation is about to arrive.”

Aura’s voice jerked her around, “I’d almost forgotten about that. I’ll talk to you later Logan.” Storm waved as she went out to meet the newest potential threat at the front doors.

“Who exactly are you?” Wolverine asked of the tear-streaked waif who was most obviously psychic.

“I’m Aura.”

“Ahh, the one who saw me coming. Is it your day to watch the road then?”

“Pretty much. Uh oh. I gotta go, DON’T tell Angel Salvador that I was crying!” And the boy scampered off. A minute later a teenage girl walked up to the door, her upper arms showed tattoos that seemed to be the tips of wings.

“I heard Aura was over here?” The girl questioned.

“He just left, I’m not sure to where. You Angel Salvador?” Wolverine turned in his seat beside Rogue’s bed to look at her.

“Yep, that’s me. Why?”

“Nothing really. Your name came up as a newbie is all.”

The girl scowled, “I’m not a newbie!” Angel Salvador was indignant.

Wolverine bowed his head, looking to his clenched fists for more patience and the correct phrasing he needed. He sighed, “I didn’t mean that you were new to being a mutant or even that you were new to the school, simply that you are a new face to me since the last time I was here. Storm and Rogue have both filled me in on some of what’s new here since I’ve been gone.”

“Oh,” Angel Salvador’s expression was one of surprised consternation. “How long were you gone?”

Wolverine gave a half smile, “About six years this time. And hopefully once Rogue is feeling up to it, I’ll be outta here again, taking her with me. But it might be more complicated than I’d originally planned.” Wolverine trailed off remembering Jean and the Phoenix.

“Oh, well, I’m going to go find Aura.” And she was gone.


	3. Confrontation

With Rogue and Wolverine taken care of and Katlin watching them to make sure they stayed safe after their encounter with the Phoenix, Storm walked down the stairs from the dormitory and through the halls to the grand entrance of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Storm wasn’t looking forward to the mutant delegation from Russia. Xavier had gathered students from all over the world, but with the outburst of Mutants onto the general social scene their school was no longer the safe haven it had been. It didn’t matter too other mutant factions that most of the students here were never taught combat skills and only knew that the X-Men were there for their protection. Other factions didn’t seem to understand that this was simply a school for people who needed special care above and beyond normal human children. The only thing that was taught here that was different from any regular school across the States was how to control their abilities. Once a student had graduated from “Mutant High” as they called it, they were given a choice to leave and live a semi-normal life, become an X-Man or stay on at the school, generally as a teacher. No matter what route they choose they would always have the X-Men’s support and have a place at the school to come back to.

Storm was hoping that this faction of mutants would really only be here to copy the school in their own country and not end up being another attack on Xavier’s school for ‘hoarding’ mutants. She was also hoping that it wasn’t going to be another bureaucratic bid to implement a “You can’t take mutants out of our country anymore, they’re ours” policy on them. While such a policy is understandable, Storm generally tried to foster the idea that she would like the other factions to look further than their own countries as well. Storm sighed as she opened the double doors to the school, stepping outside she was joined by Colossus, Angel, Angel Salvador, Aura and Havok. She mustered a small smile for the bunch before moving down the steps as three sleek black limousines rolled up to them.

The woman who got out of the first limo, going down to open the backdoor had Storm’s back stiffening she was so reminiscent of Lady Death Strike. When a classy looking blonde woman in a sleek and shimmering red dress rose gracefully from the back seat Colossus stood straighter and focused his eyes away from the woman. Aura noticed the protective/reticent maneuver and winced visibly but when the blonde woman’s gaze passed over all of them Aura got no ill will off of her, though he made sure not to look at her directly. The woman called out an order in a silvery voice and the other occupants of the limos got out – drivers and all. Once the company was assembled the woman pinned her grey eyes on Storm. “You are Storm, da?”

The African woman nodded her head. “Ve come from Russia to visit Peitr and Illyana. For ve have missed them dearly.” Aura stiffened at the gleam that shot through her eyes as Colossus flinched slightly.

“Well we always enjoy visitors. Would you like accommodations here or do you have some other place you would like to stay?” Storm didn’t know if she liked where this was going or not. Magik and Colossus, while here because Professor X had asked Colossus for his help and Magik simply decided to come along – they were under no obligation to stay. In fact Magik had just recently returned to the school from visiting her family in Russia. So that told Storm - who couldn’t see Colossus or Aura at the moment - that these people were not family.

“Oh, da, ve have a place booked already. Ve simply came by to see Mother Russia’s children.” The woman answered her.

Colossus flinched again and his skin slowly began to change, the other X-men around him closed ranks around him instinctively not knowing exactly why he seemed so upset. The blonde woman simply smiled up at him, “дорогой, there is no need to be afraid. You already know that your steel is no match for my stone.”

Colossus continued to stare straight ahead, so Aura decided to take matters into his own hands and looked the woman in the eyes. It did nothing to him until she looked at him back, suddenly there was screaming from inside the school...

Wolverine had just entered his own room when the screaming started, a little girl, perhaps six years old rushed into him and wrapped her arms around his legs. She was wailing with huge tears sliding down her pixie-like face. “Make it stop! Make her stop! She has to let him go! He’s scared and he can’t breathe! She’s killing him! Make her stop!”

Completely stumped he lifted the young girl into his arms, “Who’s killing who?”

“The Russian lady outside! She’s killing Aura! It hurts! Make it stop!”

Wolverine took only a moment to fly into action, still holding the girl he ran down the stairs and out the front doors of the school. What he saw stilled him: Colossus was fully armored up, Angel and the girl Angel Salvador were in the air just above the group of X-men, the sky was clouding over, Havok was glowing purple, and Aura...was stone. He blinked a couple of times before he saw the lady beyond his fellows who was grinning like a predator.

“Whatever you did to him, you need to undo it. NOW. This little one says he’s dying, and somehow I’m pretty sure she knows what she’s talking about. And trust me lady, you don’t want me to come over there and bitch-slap that grin off your face.” Wolverine’s claws slowly came out one one hand as he pointed it at her.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You people are no fun, da?” The woman blinked her eyes at Aura and the boy collapsed to the ground gasping for breath. “You are lucky I am not really Medusa no? It would take much more to break the stone effect da?”

Wolverine simply shook his head in disgust, “What’s going out here anyway?”


End file.
